


the punchline

by annamiltons



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, Dark Knight (2008)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Hinted Batman/Joker, Mentions of Violence, Schizophrenia, mentions of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 11:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2467166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annamiltons/pseuds/annamiltons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You know the punchline but you don’t know the joke. Maybe that’s what’s so funny. Maybe that’s the punchline; maybe you’re the punchline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the punchline

**Author's Note:**

> Nolan!verse Joker, according to me, is the most interesting character in the whole of fiction. This is just my take on what the inside of his mind feels like.  
> I wrote the fic while listening to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVJGh51wR7k  
> Regarding the tag: Heath Ledger (RIP) and Jim Gordon in Batman Begins both described the Joker as schizophrenic. While I don't have any personal experience with this disorder myself, I've done some research and tried to build the whole fic around it.  
> English is not my first language. If you've noticed any mistakes, please point them out so I can learn from them.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> Also, it's 4.38AM.

it’s all so _dull_

you wake up and you can feel yourself breathing and oh isn’t this funny

no actually, it’s not. you know the punchline but you don’t know the joke. maybe that’s what’s so funny. maybe that’s the punchline

maybe _you’re_ the punchline

 

when you walk you can feel people staring at you

(oh not the pedestrians not these idiots who keep glaring at you with disgust and fear. you’ve stopped noticing them a long time ago)

they’re watching holding their breath and waiting for your next move and you can feel their excitement as they wonder what you’re gonna do next

they want to see the show. they want magic and laughter and adrenaline and blood and surprise and so do you

 

when you were a kid you learnt that magic disappears as soon as it’s explained

and you don’t ever want this ride to end

 

gun powder blood paint dynamite

they all look the same and smell the same and eventually they are the same. they’re all parts of you

tools of destruction. more or less literally

 

the woman passing you by is staring and you laugh because she reminds you of your wife who looked oh so beautiful in the black coffin with her pale face covered in scars

you wonder how she got this way

you can’t remember

(in this story you’re not the husband. you’re the villain

in each and every story you’re the villain)

 

the batman may frown and growl but you know what he’s hiding

(do you want me to tell you the secret?

wanna know why i won’t kill you?

do you want to find out how come we complete each other?)

too bad _he_ doesn’t want to find out

(because we are _the same_ )

 

gotham is a mother who kills her children throws them onto white snow and watches them bleed out

(red does look stunning against white doesn’t it)

and if they manage not to die they start eating each other

they have rules and they have a code and they have morals but if you’ve never been hungry you've never seen the real you

(the hunger makes the man)

 

you remember talking to people and it was so boring and you felt sick from hearing all these words and words and words and none of them really mattered because in the end they’re just letters and syllabes and don’t mean anything

commas and dots and question marks are meaningless because what is speech

(a void)

you screamed and you howled at the moon and you cried and you laughed

and nothing means anything

(so why bother)

 

maybe life does have a deeper meaning and maybe you’re a freak and crazy and lost your mind a long time ago but you know

you know everything in the end comes back to a joke

and jokes are nothing without a punchline

 

everyone will figure it out eventually

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> In case it was unclear: I tried to establish Joker's "fourth-wall awareness" which has been featured in the comic books.


End file.
